You Will Anyway

Saturday, March 21, 2026

It shouldn't be this way

And speaking of airports, Trump is batting a thousand.

And speaking of Trump being a despicable excuse for a human being...

Although I might be posting those exact sentiments when Trump dies.

Do it

Sen. Chris Murphy was dining with progressive activists [indicated] that some lawmakers had been doing informal counts to see whether enough votes existed to remove the New York Democrat from his leadership position, according to people familiar with the mid-February dinner.

[...]

Murphy is among a group of senators and top advisers who have grown increasingly dissatisfied with Schumer’s leadership, according to people familiar with the conversations. That group includes Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has been initiating conversations with other senators to gauge frustrations with Schumer, some of the people said. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota has also been active in discussions about her frustrations with Schumer.

[...]

Murphy said he is frequently asked about Senate leadership, but he doesn’t have a count of who would vote to remove Schumer and doesn’t recall mentioning one. [...] Murphy said. “[Schumer] has the support of the caucus.” He said he still supports Schumer.

WSJ

What will it take?

March 28 - No Kings

I wouldn't be surprised if this show of protest around the world is much larger than even the last time, now that the whole world is being affected by Mad King Donald's disastrous war on Iran.

The face-eating leopards reached Texas

America is hot

Maybe, but not the way he meant it.

How's that Iran thing going?

Three weeks into the war, the Iranian regime is signaling that it believes it is winning and has the power to impose a settlement on Washington that entrenches Tehran’s dominance of Middle East energy resources for decades to come.

[...]

Netanyahu said Thursday that the war would end “a lot faster than people think.” Trump said this week the U.S. would wrap up the conflict in the “near future” even as the Pentagon dispatched thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East.

[...]

Iran has retained the ability to fire dozens of ballistic missiles, and many more drones, every day across the Middle East.

Instead of declining, the rate of fire actually picked up in recent days compared with 10 days ago. Iranian strikes inflicted catastrophic damage this week on key energy installations in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates—while Iran’s own oil exports kept booming.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf’s chokepoint, remains only possible with Iranian permission.

[...]

“The Iranians aren’t ready to end the war because they have learned an important lesson: They can, comparatively easily and cheaply, cause a lot of damage and disruption. They now want the whole world to learn that lesson, too,” said Dina Esfandiary, an analyst on Iran and author of a book on Iran’s foreign relations.

[...]

Tehran has pledged that it will agree to a cease-fire only if Washington and the Gulf states pay a steep price.

[...]

Iran is planning to enshrine a “new status” for the Strait of Hormuz to require every passing ship to pay fees to Tehran for the privilege.

[...]

“This hubris is dangerous because they are not smart enough to understand that President Trump will never let them win. They don’t understand how far he’s willing to go,” said Jason Greenblatt, who served as the White House special envoy for the Middle East in the first Trump administration.

[...]

A U.S. effort to secure shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz would be “a simple military maneuver” with “so little risk,” Trump said Friday in a Truth Social post blasting European allies for refusing to join the mission.

WSJ

Sure, Jan. Then why this...

The Trump administration is temporarily lifting longstanding sanctions banning the “sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil or petroleum products of Iranian origin” for the next month in hopes of curbing the meteoric rise in oil prices.

Independent UK

Thereby giving Iran (and Russia) a huge boost in dollars to spend on war.

A “General License” issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released late Friday permits the purchase of Iranian oil that has already been loaded onto “any vessel” — including ships that have already been sanctioned — by waiving 10 separate sets of sanctions that have targeted both Russian and Iranian oil.

The sanctions that are being temporarily set aside have been in place for years, with many originating during Trump’s first term.

[...]

By waiving the sanctions, the U.S. will allow Iranian and Russian oil that is currently at sea to be purchased and unloaded without penalty until April 19, at which point the sanctions will resume unless the Treasury extends the waiver.

Any bets?

UPDATE 03/21/2026:

One of the missiles failed in flight, and a U.S. warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, according to two of the people. It couldn't be determined if an interception was made, according to one of the officials.

Iran’s targeting of Diego Garcia, about 2,500 miles from Iran, implies its missiles have a greater range than Tehran has previously acknowledged.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last month that Iran has deliberately limited the range of its missiles to around 1,250 miles.

WSJ

Not any more.

America is failing

It's on a par with everything he does: disregard for the law, and buying whatever he wants. Or selling, as in the case of pardons. It's all transactional, and it all involves money changing hands.